A monster in Paris
by Bluebombmonkey
Summary: Arthur has a mysterious business meeting across the channel, but are his new comrades what they seem? Rated T for minor language, R&R
1. Chapter 1

"There is darkness in light, there is pain in joy, and there are thorns on the rose."

― Cate Tiernan

Arthur stepped off the boat and breathed in the fresh salty air. The night air, although shrouded in a thick fog and chilled by sea winds, was still so much cleaner than that of the day. This country, so different from his own, still reminded him of home. A smile didn't appear on his face, such emotions had been robbed from him. Along with his heart. He grimaced as the pain in his chest stabbed him again. No. He mustn't think like that. Not any-more. Business, that was safe. No strings or feelings attached, just cold hard facts and a purpose.

"There you go Monsieur" said the bag carrier putting down Arthur's luggage "Is there anything else I can get for you?"

"Yes, where can I hail a cab?" The small man smiled politely and pointed to the street corner.

"Over there Monsieur, would you like me to take your bag?"

"No, I can manage. Thank you." The little man gave a small bow and said

"Enjoy your stay in france, Monsieur Kirkland, and good luck." before jumping back onboard; out of the dingy street, which was now drizzling with rain.

Pulling his coat collar up against the cold Arthur picked up his luggage and walked down to the end of the road. His large hat protected him from the rain, preventing the use of an umbrella. His three brothers Allistor (scotland) Gavan (wales) and Connor (n Ireland) were supposed to join him but a recent argument over family money meant he was traveling to Paris alone. He thought about his had lost his mother a long time ago, he used to be the leader of the house until his sister undermined him. Not to mention the attempted murders. He had barely talked to Bridget (R. ) in years. His brothers only stayed with him out of family loyalty, but he guessed they didn't like taking orders from the youngest of the household.

After a five minute wait a taxi drove up and he hopped inside the back. He took off his hat and told the driver to take him to the hotel de louvre. He sat back in his seat and enjoyed the ride. It was too late to drive all the way to Paris and, if he new frenchmen, the taxi driver would not be very happy to do so. Also, worryingly, there was an open bottle of wine on the passenger seat and Arthur was not sure if the driver was in any fit state to drive that far without crashing. Out of the window all Arthur could see was blackness, occasionally priced by a fancy street lamp. In the distance he could here the soft sounds of the ocean. He was used to living by the water, he,himself, lived in an expensive flat in London. It had a great view of the Thames and was rather large. But the river barely made a sound, he wondered if this new sound would keep him awake. He checked his watch, around 22:30. He felt his eyes get heavier, no sleeping would not be problem.

Finally Arthur arrived at the hotel, he paid the driver the fair and hurried into the building. He managed to get a room and refused to let the porter take his luggage. He was only staying for the night. when he got to his room he got out his mobile set an alarm for the morning. Alfred had got him the little gadget for his birthday, and he was actually quite impressed by it. Alfred was like a brother to him, Arthur had practically raised the boy. He was surprised to see he had a message. It was from his brother Gavan of all people. it read -

"Sorry we can't be there with you little brother, Alistor hasn't quite forgiven you yet. But he will come round. Have a nice trip, call if you need us." Arthur shook his head and put the phone on the bedside table. He quickly got changed and went bed. He didn't read, he was too tired for even that. He let his eyes close slowly, dreading the day to come.


	2. Chapter 2

Beep! Beep! Beep! The alarm on the phone pierced Arthur's happy dream. Sighing he turned the blasted thing off and rolled out of bed. His hair was slightly messy, as always, but his suit was sharp and presentable. He brushed his teeth and went down to breakfast, expecting the worst.

When he got there he was presented with a cup of tea, not bad, but not the best. After examining the menu briefly he ordered some croissants and a pot of tea. The pretty waitress took his order but she kept looking at him as though he were dangerous. Apparently his reputation was larger than he thought, he didn't think mere waitresses would know of him. he looked down at his suit to make sure he wasn't just overestimating himself. No, he looked fine. He looked across the rest of the dining hall, some of the other guests were glancing at him out of the corner of their eyes, some even had the nerve to leave when he looked at them. An old lady sat on the far side of the room was clutching a cross in both hands and glaring at him. He felt anger boil up from chest, who were they to judge? He dug his fingernails into the palm of his hands, the pain kept him sane. It was at times like these when he wanted his brothers, then the hatred didn't seem so focused, so concentrated.

Eventually the waitress arrived with his order. After placing it on the table she quickly hurried away. Such poor service, she didn't even offer to pour the tea. That would show in her tip. He slowly ate his breakfast, a dark expression conveyed his miserable mood. But even he could only take the glares for so long as soon as he finished the tea he retreated up to his room, he felt the dining hall let out a collective breath. He hurriedly packed his things and went back down to pay his bill. He was happy to see they had already got him a cab, that feeling faded when he realized why. No matter how bad your guest is, you shouldn't show how much you want to get rid of them.

"Ze taxi 'iz ready to take you to where ever you want to go to Mousier" Said the lady behind the desk. "Au revoir" Arthur nodded at her in thanks, she flinched and carried on with her work. Who had told them about him? How could one man be this famous and not get arrested?

"Curious and curiouser." he said to himself. he nearly managed to smile at that, nearly. He put the luggage in the boot of the car himself, the taxi driver, at least, seemed not to have heard of him and therefore he was perfectly pleasant. Either that or he had more manners than everyone else out here. The driver had a round happy face, with red cheeks and a large smile. He was also rather fat.

"Where to Sir?" He was also, as out turned out, English. Arthur actually managed to smile at that.

"Paris, my good Sir."

"They told me you was English" His accent suggested he was from Manchester

"Is that a good thing?"

"They also said that you is possessed by some kin'a daemon." The taxi driver said, ignoring the question Arthur had asked him.

"Tell me," said Arthur "What is your name?"

"I'm called Tony"

"Well, _Tony_, you shouldn't listen to idle chit-chat. Especially not that of the french."

"I s'pose you'r right. Well to Paris then?" and with that Tony got in the drivers seat and waited for Arthur to get in. After a moments pause He clambered inside the back and made himself comfortable for the long journey ahead. "Any where specific you want me to be takin' you sir or should I just drop you off at the Eiffel tower?" Tonys attempt at humor fell flat on its face.

"Yes" said Arthur "The hotel Villa Lutece Port Royal" He watched as Tony set the address on his sat-nav. He sat back in his seat and began to read a book he had taken from his bag. Grimm's Fairy Tales, gosh he loved this book.


	3. Chapter 3

I forgot to put this at the top of the other two but I don't own Hetalia, as i am sure you guessed, or any characters within the franchise. R&amp;R, enjoy!

* * *

Tony grunted as he pulled Arthurs bag out from the car boot. "There you go sir, do you want me to take it inside for you?" Arthur looked up at the man in front of him. Tony, despite everything that he had ben told, was still managing to maintain his cheerful smile and upbeat manner.

"No, thank you, I can manage." He paid the driver in full and gave, in his opinion, a large tip to the man. Snapping his book shut, Arthur picked up his bag and made his way to the door of the hotel, briefly he turned back and said, "some more bags of mine are arriving tomorrow. They will be arriving at the port can you pick them up and leave them at this address? I'll pay you double."

Tony gave a small smile and made a note of the address; nodding to himself, he then got back in the taxi and drove away. Arthur felt his own face slacken out from the smile that he did not know was on his face. It would be a long time before he would do so again. Slowly he trudged into the hotel and awaited is colleges' call.

Two hours later his phone vibrated in his pocket. 1 new message. The Romanian wanted to meet up for lunch. Sighing, Arthur googled the address. Great, it was within walking distance. Picking up his bag he made his way to the new destination. Hopefully his new things would arrive tomorrow, he didn't have enough equipment to last two days of work. Balling up his fists he prayed to the gods that everything wouldn't go tits up.

"Morning Englishman." said the man in the red coat. His smile was wicked and full of cruelty. Arthur could see his long canines sticking out ever-so-slightly from his top lip and his red eyes were full of mischief. Arthur sometimes wondered why he did business with such disgusting characters. Then he remembered that his soul was hardly much purer than the man that sat before him. It was probably in a worse state

"How do you do, Romanian?" Arthur said carefully. He did not sit down, best to make a judgment of his new acquaintance's character before joining him for a meal formally. The Romanian, and Arthur, were situated inside of a tidy little restaurant, relatively un-crowded with large amounts of artificial light. Unfortunately the restaurant, apparently, insisted on having its walls decorated with various colour pastels. Light pinks, greens and blues filled his vision and fluffed everything up, giving Arthur a headache.

"Don't like the decor?" said the Romanian his face remained perfectly still, except for the creepy smile on his face, It stuck there like he had forgotten it was on his face. "I don't much like it either, but our third business partner does enjoy the comestibles here..." he looked back at Arthur, smile still on his face, and said "Sorry for not telling you about him, but I was only aware he was even in Paris an hour ago. No need to worry though, he has enough power, for sure, but nothing to rival ours. I can assure you. His name is Lukas" the Romanian frowned "I don't know his second name..." He seemed to lose himself for a moment before returning back to the world once more. Along with him came that god-awful smile. "But you, you I do know. You are the famous Arthur Kirkland! Your social circle is very interesting indeed...and very dangerous; not just for the ones who are in it." The Romanian shifted slightly in his seat, disturbed by his own thoughts. It was then that Arthur decided he could sit down. The man sitting before him, although being a slight bit of a loon, was more scared of him than he could contain. Arthur had less to fear from people who were scared of him. They may talk behind his back but they often gave no physical attack. Well they hadn't so far.

"Well tell me Sir," He asked the Romanian politely "what should I call you?"

"Me?" The Romanian looked a little confused he tipped his head to the left and stroked an invisible beard. Was it a sign of deep thought? Arthur thought this a little too dramatic for the circumstances but decided he could do nothing about other peoples odd gestures, and therefore decided to put up with it. A small evil smile twitched at the edges of the Romanians mouth. "How about we honor my country's culture and you can call me Vlad...I always liked that name...what do you think?"

"I think your name suits you well Vlad, tell me, what time does our friend plan on arriving?"

"You change subject quickly don't you Arthur? Well he said he would be here ten minuets after you arrived and he is certainly no friend of mine..." Arthur raised an eyebrow at the use of his first name, but again he did not press the issue.

"Well I suppose we will have wait then" he raised a hand to halt Vlad's oncoming words. "In silence if you don't mind, I have a headache..." Vlad nodded in understanding and ordered the two of them newspapers, he even had the manners to order one in English. So the two of them waited for this Lukas to arrive, all the time managing to sit in silence. Something Arthur never would have managed if his brothers had come with him.


End file.
